Solitary
by Kumiko Hasegawa
Summary: The profound loneliness of solitary confinement is enough to break even the strongest spirit. Sanji is no exception. A day by day account. WARNING: Will contain spoilers for Zou and Whole Cake Island arcs. This fic is rated M.
1. Day 1

I do not own One Piece.

This fic is **rated M.**

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Day One

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"…shit."

Sanji sucked in a deep breath through tightly clenched teeth. His head was pounding in what was quite possibly the worst headache he had ever had in his entire life. It felt like someone had blocked up his ears and then put his head in a vice. He could feel every beat of his heart pushing against his eardrums and the insides of his eyelids. It was almost like his skull was suddenly too small for his brain. Any moment now it would crack open at the seams and spill its contents all over the floor. Sanji forced a breath back out through his teeth, squeezing his eyes even further shut, but that somehow made it worse.

"Hhhhhh….fuck."

If he concentrated hard enough, Sanji thought that he might be able to pinpoint the source of the pain. There was blood caked in the hair on his left temple. It was mostly dry already, tightening over his flesh and contributing to his headache. Sanji clenched his hands and opened them over and over. He wanted to lift them to rub his headache away, but had already discovered that they were bound. He tugged at them for what may have been the hundredth time, but the metal cuffs that circled his wrists held strong. They had to have Sea Prism in them. Had to. The same cuffs bound his ankles to the legs of his chair. That was all. Nothing else was bound and other than the small cut on his temple, nothing else was injured. He could even sort of stand, at least as much as his immobilized arms would allow. Sanji couldn't help but to feel a little ridiculous for being held against his will by so little.

He moaned again, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. The chair he was tied to was far from comfortable. There were no cushions to offer him support, only hard and unyielding wood. Its back rose to the middle of the back of his head, just high enough that he couldn't see what was behind him when he turned, but not actually high enough to lean his head back to rest properly. Worse yet, Sanji was beginning to notice that the legs were just short enough that his thighs didn't quite rest on the seat. Instead his knees bent at acute angles, causing them to throb painfully and his ankles to strain against their chains.

Sanji swallowed another moan before it could escape past his lips. He was uncomfortable, but he had been in worse shape before. He needed to stay calm, collect his thoughts. Make a plan to escape. Sanji assumed that he was to be interrogated. His captors, whoever they were, were trying to break him down. They wanted him frustrated and vulnerable when they began their questioning. Well. They had a whole other thing coming. Sanji would never give up his crew.

"Breathe," he muttered to himself, forcing air in and out of his lungs. "Think, dammit."

Sanji sat perfectly still for a moment, his head bowed and his brow furrowed as he focused on willing away the throbbing pain in his head. He needed to figure out where he was. His memory was so fuzzy. He remembered leaving Dressrosa with Nami and the others. And running from Big Mom. And reaching Zou and the devastation there. Sanji even recalled helping its furry citizens to recover. But beyond that, there was nothing. Part of him said that he should be worried for his nakama, but something told him that they were safe. That he was alone in this.

He sighed, frustrated with himself. He was clearly missing something important.

Finally, the pounding between his ears began to subside, and Sanji ventured to open his eyes again. Perhaps there would be some clue as to his location or captors. Unfortunately, his gaze was met by nothing but a blank stone wall and a small window. Sanji stared dumbly at it for a moment. The stone was smooth, absolutely pristine. As far as he could tell, each slate grey brick was exactly the same size and was laid tightly against its neighbor, as if they had been cut by one of Franky's lasers. The craftsmanship was absolutely impeccable, even if the design was more than a little boring. Sanji let his eyes wander up the featureless wall to the window above. It was centered perfectly in front of him, placed just high enough that all he could see from his seated position was the sky. Sanji did his best to stand, craning his neck and stretching as far as he could to see if there was more than sky out there. He just barely caught a glimpse of glistening blue ocean before he felt the metal cuffs cut into his wrists and his legs gave out beneath him. Sanji collapsed back into the chair with a huff. At least, he supposed, he could track the passage of time. And the fresh air and sunlight couldn't hurt either. It was better than nothing.

Satisfied that he had exhausted the details of this wall, Sanji did his best to look around the rest of the room. His chair sat directly in the center of it, with enough space that he had no hope of even trying to touch any of the walls. In every direction that he looked, Sanji found more of the same featureless stone. Even what little of the wall behind him that he could see when he twisted in his seat was the same. He experimentally rocked back and forth, only to find that the chair didn't budge. When he leaned over either of the arms, he found bolts holding the legs to the same perfectly smooth stone floor.

Maybe they intended to bore him to death. That was a thing, right?

Sanji idly tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, returning his gaze to the sky outside the window. Judging by the angle of the sun, it was close to midday. Sanji sighed loudly. He should have been making lunch for Nami and the others right now. He wished that his captors would come and get whatever it was they wanted to do over with so he could kick their asses and go home. This constant waiting was starting to wear thin.

Sanji strained to look around the back of his chair again, seeing no more than he'd seen before. He knew that there was a door behind him, but it was centered such that the most of it he could see around the high back of the chair was the very edge of the trim. Sanji guessed that his captors were likely watching him through it, waiting for the perfect chance to do whatever they intended.

He finally sat back when the muscles in his neck began to burn down into his shoulders and up behind his ears, bringing his headache back with renewed vigor. Sanji closed his eyes and wheezed softly. He would have to wait this out.

After all, how long could they possibly keep this up?

Before long, Sanji found himself drifting off to sleep. At first he tried to stop it from happening, blinking his eyes open wide and taking several deep breaths. When that didn't work, he would lightly tap the back of his head against the hard wood of the chair, hoping that the impact would wake him up. He dug his nails into his palms and twisted his wrists against the metal of his cuffs. He even bit his tongue once, but to no avail. Each time Sanji lasted maybe fifteen minutes staring at the blank wall in front of him before his eyes drooped closed again. And every time he woke up, he found that the sun had advanced a few hours further across the sky. Finally, around early evening, Sanji gave in. He needed the sleep, as much as he was loath to admit it. It might even help to make his headache go away.

Sanji slumped in his chair as far as the metal cuffs would allow, hunching his shoulders a little painfully in an attempt to rest his chin on his chest. Hopefully sleep would clear his head and he would be able to form a decent plan for escape.

And maybe in the morning something would have changed.

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This fic is purely self-indulgent and a little something of an experiment.

Please let me know what you think!


	2. Day 2

Thanks to everyone for their feedback! I really appreciate it! Anyway...

I do not own One Piece.

This fic is **rated M.**

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Day Two

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There was something wet on his chin. Sanji tried to lift his hand to wipe it away, only to find it stuck. Something was holding his arm in place, but his sleep-addled mind couldn't quite register what the cause was. He tried the other hand, only to find it suffering the same symptoms. Sanji furrowed his brow, still half asleep. The moisture was uncomfortable and threatening to wake him up in a hurry. Sanji tugged at his arm again, this time feeling metal bite into his skin. He snorted incoherently, jerking his head up and immediately smacking it on a hard wooden surface.

Sanji's eyes snapped open the moment that he hit his head. His heart pounded in his chest. Where the hell was he? What was going on? Why was he tied to a chair?

Sanji frantically looked around the vacant room, his pulse roaring in his ears. Then it came back to him. He had woken up this way the day before too. The only difference was, the day before his headache had been far worse. Now it was merely a dull throb. Sanji took several deep breaths, still holding the arms of his chair in a white knuckled grip. He reminded himself once again that he needed to stay calm. He was going to have to think his way out of this. Panicking wouldn't help anything.

"God damn this fucking shitty chair," he muttered, rolling his shoulders and popping his neck. Every muscle felt stiff after spending the night sitting in it. Slowly, he willed his tense muscles to relax one at a time. He groaned and sighed as at least a little of the pain subsided. Then Sanji remembered what had woken him up.

Drool. He had drooled on himself in his sleep. Sanji huffed. How embarrassing. Good thing he was alone.

Sanji barked a laugh before he realized what he was doing. "Good thing….for all you know, you've been left here to die."

Something clenched painfully around Sanji's heart as he voiced his fear aloud. He took another deep breath, steadying himself. It was too early for despair.

He turned his head, wiping the corner of his mouth and his chin on his shoulder before looking up at the window above. Judging by the position of the sun, it was late morning. He had slept much later than he normally did. He had missed breakfast time by several hours and lunchtime was rapidly approaching. If he was aboard the Sunny, he would be running desperately and frustratingly late. Not that he couldn't whip up something delicious in a hurry. Some kind of appetizer or salad to keep his crew mostly sated until the main course was prepared. Maybe a plate of cold sandwiches. That would do. As long as Luffy didn't eat every last crumb before the others could get to it.

Sanji's stomach growled loudly at the thought of food. He swallowed thickly, feeling his heart begin to pound again. He could feel the first pangs of hunger gnawing away at his stomach. His mind immediately flashed back to darker memories and Sanji found himself fighting for control once again.

"Shit…..breathe, idiot. Breathe." Sanji squeezed his eyes closed, furrowing his brow in concentration. "They're not going to let you starve, whoever these bastards are. What good would that do them? This isn't like that place. You'll be fine. Just…fucking _breathe_."

Sanji's stomach growled again, this time tapering off in a high pitched whine. Sanji groaned.

"You need a distraction," he told himself. "Count the cracks in the wall or something."

Sanji opened his eyes and stared at the wall in front of him. After a solid minute of coming up with nothing, not a single flaw, he sighed. Apparently these bricks had been laid by gods or the original builders of the Poneglyphs. Or aliens. Maybe if he stared harder. Sanji pinched his lips together and hummed, leaning forward and looking at the wall as hard and long as he could. Spots began to dance in front of his eyes, but he still couldn't find any flaws. Sanji shrugged. At least he'd found a new distraction.

He decided to make a game of it. He would stare at the wall unblinking for as long as possible, counting the spots that appeared in the corners of his eyes. He wanted to see how many he could get before he finally had to blink. It was harder to do than he had initially anticipated. The air in his cell was dry and his eyes began to hurt sooner than he would have liked. He just needed more practice.

He had just set a personal record of eleven spots when something snapped his attention away. Sanji sat up straighter, blinking away any lingering spots. The fine hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and his heart was hammering in his chest. It was like a sudden change in the atmosphere had occurred. An electrical shift.

He was being watched.

Sanji licked his lips and took a steadying breath. This was it. He was finally going to meet the people that had put him here. He needed to be strong. Stoic. Put up an unbreakable barrier. He wanted to make sure that these bastards knew that their scare tactics hadn't worked.

Sanji waited. And waited. And waited.

Several times, Sanji swept the room with his Observation Haki, but found nothing. He was alone. But that made no sense. He was sure, so, so sure, that someone was in there with him. Why else would he have such a reaction? Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

No response.

"Speak, you damn bastard."

Nothing.

Sanji turned in his chair, trying his best to see behind him, but only found an empty room. If anyone was there with him, they were standing in the blind spot by the door.

"Come on! Just say something. It can be anything. I don't care if you insult me."

Maybe they were gone. Maybe they had left him. But then why was his heart still beating so hard?

"Sneeze, cough, belch. Shit, even fart. Make a noise. _Something_."

Sanji groaned, pounding his head on the back of his chair a few times.

"Please? I'm getting really tired of talking to myself."

Still nothing.

"GODDAMMIT. TALK TO ME."

Sanji felt his voice crack and suddenly the presence behind him was gone.

He hung his head, wheezing softly as the realization dawned on him that he had likely made it up. He was still alone and had been the whole time.

Sanji looked back up at the window to find that several hours had passed. It was midafternoon. The sun was at the perfect angle to shine directly through the window and onto him, warming him. If he wasn't careful, he would get a sunburn. At least he was wearing long sleeves.

Sanji stared directly at the sun for as long as he could stand it and then looked away, bouncing its after image around the wall in front of him until it disappeared. He repeated this three or four times before closing his eyes and sighing loudly enough that his voice echoed off the walls. He had only just started this game and he was already bored.

He wasn't cut out for this. Why had these bastards felt the need to tie him to something? Why couldn't he have at least been free to roam his cell? His legs itched to pace the room. Or better yet, kick a hole in the damned perfect wall in front of him. He wasn't cut out to sit still for hours at a time. That was Zoro's thing. Damned moss head could probably spend days like that. He called it meditating but honestly it looked like napping to Sanji.

Maybe…maybe he could try it. Maybe he could meditate to pass the time. It was worth a shot. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

With his decision made, Sanji let his eyes slide closed. First, he focused on his breathing. That was what he was supposed to do, right? Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Repeat. Even if it wasn't, it seemed to work. Before long, Sanji felt himself beginning to relax. He settled deeper into the chair, trying his best to forget how uncomfortable it was. He pictured himself on the Sunny; outlined every last detail. Luffy was seated on the figurehead; Franky was at the helm. Robin was reading in the shade of the mast and Nami was stretched out on a beach chair in the sun beside her. Zoro was lifting weights on deck while Brook played some music. Usopp was nearby, working on a new invention. Sanji smiled fondly at the scene, placing a gentle hand on top of Chopper's hat when the reindeer came up beside him. Chopper looked up at him and said something, but Sanji couldn't hear it. All of his crewmates' voices were muffled as if he was hearing everything while underwater. Sanji supposed that it was because this wasn't real. He furrowed his brow, doing his best to not let it ruin what he was seeing. But it was too late.

The Sunny darkened and then disappeared as Sanji's eyes fluttered open. He sighed, more than a little disappointed, and looked up at the window. It was dusk. Either he had fallen asleep again or had burned more time than he had thought. Either way, it was a little disheartening. Sanji had hoped that he would have at least made it to his kitchen.

"Just try again tomorrow," he told himself, feeling even more lonely as his voice echoed around him.

Sanji shook off the feeling, giving the arms of his chair a slight squeeze. He looked back at the wall, staring hard. Maybe this time he could set a new personal best of twelve spots.

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Thank you so much for reading! Like I said, this fic is very new ground for me. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!


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